Once Upon a Time
by calenlily
Summary: Maybe, once upon a time, things were different. Maybe, once upon a time, Lily and the Marauders were friends. Marauders Era 1st year fic. GeneralHumor. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and a few of the characters. Everything else belongs to JKR and I'm only having fun with it._

_Author's note: This is the first fic of what will hopefully become a series of Marauders Era fics. I plan on making it quite a few chapters. I am warning you now that it has not been beta-read, but I tried to do the best job I could of editing it, and I accept full responsibility for any mistakes that remain. Just like anyone else, I would love reviews, especially constructive criticism. I want any feedback you have on making my story better, but please, no flames._

**Chapter 1: The Journey**

King's Cross Station was bustling. It was so crowded that Lily Evans could hardly see where she was going, and she was getting jostled about by everyone going this way and that. On top of all that, she had another problem. She had no idea where to find her platform. There didn't seem to be a platform 9 3/4, but that's what the letter said.

Ever since she got that letter, her life had been just plain crazy. Not that she really minded. Before, everything had been completely normal, and boring. Besides, she had been an outcast. Everyone seemed to think she was weird. She had wished so many times for something exciting to happen. Still, it was quite a shock to find out that she was a witch.

"Where is Platform 9 3/4?" Lily said quietly, mostly to herself. One man passing by gave her a weird look. "Where is Platform 9 3/4?" She muttered again, frustrated. Her train would be leaving in 10 minutes, and she couldn't even find the platform. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't really notice where she was going until she bumped right into a black-haired boy about her own age.

"Oi, watch where you're going," he said.

Lily looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry, wasn't paying attention. I'm having trouble finding my platform, you see," she apologized.

"Ah. Let me guess, 9 3/4?" He said.

"How'd you know?"

"I heard you talking to yourself. Besides, you have an owl, which is hardly common among muggles."

She laughed. "How can I resist such logic? And what are muggles?"

"Non-magical folk. Like your family, I assume."

"Yes. Oh, silly me, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Lily Evans."

"James Potter. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said mock formally, shaking her hand and half-bowing.

"Delighted," she responded in the same manner, smiling at his antics. "Now can you help me find the platform?"

"Sure. Sorry, completely forgot about that."

James pulled her through the crowd to the to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. "All you have to do is walk through the barrier," he explained. "Here, you can go before me." So she tentatively walked forward and found herself passing right through the solid looking barrier. A large sign read _Welcome to Platform 9 3/4_. To her right she saw a brilliant scarlet steam engine, the _Hogwarts Express_.

Looking back, she saw James come out of the barrier just behind her. Thanking her new friend, she went to find a seat on the train.

Lily found an empty compartment near the end of the train, and set herself up in it. She pulled a book, entitled _Hogwarts, A History_, out of her bag, and started to read. A few moments later, a rather tired looking boy with light brown hair appeared at the door to her compartment.

"Can I sit here?" He asked tentatively.

"Sure!" She immediately replied.

"Thanks," he said, seating himself. "By the way, I'm Remus Lupin."

"Lily Evans."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Remus asked, "What are you reading?"

"It's called Hogwarts, A History."

"Ah. Be careful, some say that it's only for overly bookish types. _I_ think it's a good book, mind you."

"I see," she blushed slightly. "My parents say I read too much."

"Imagine that. Mum says the same of me," he laughed.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the compartment door.

"There any room in here?" A voice asked, "Cause everywhere else is just about full."

"Sure," Lily immediately replied, "come on in, there's only two of us in here."

The door opened, and James Potter walked in with two other boys who introduced themselves as Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They quickly settled in, and before long, they were all talking and laughing like old friends.

They were interrupted when someone knocked at the door yet again. This time it was an older girl with long dark hair and an expression of superiority who walked in without being asked. She looked around in disapproval.

"There you are, Sirius," she said in an acid tone. "I don't think much of your choice of company. Come back to my compartment. Your mother asked me to keep an eye on you, since Cissy's busy, and Andromeda obviously won't."

Sirius stood up to her. "Actually, Bella, I'd rather stay here. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Don't insult my friends, it's my choice who I sit with, and don't insult Andromeda, she's the only decent one in the family. Now get out of my compartment before I have to hex you."

"I've told you before, Sirius, don't call me Bella. And you can't hex me, I'm a prefect," her voice was dangerously calm.

Sirius smirked at her, "I can do whatever I want, and I _will_ hex you if you don't get out of my compartment and leave me alone." He stayed firm and belligerent, while the others watched the showdown in awe.

"I'm not going anywhere until you come back with me."

"If you want someone to baby-sit, go bug Cissy."

"I'm not baby-sitting anyone, Sirius, and I am not leaving until you do. I can introduce you to some people who'll be proper friends for you."

"I already told you, I can choose my own friends, and I'm staying here. You, however, are leaving now." Sirius was now advancing on her. James jumped up to stand beside him. Lily instinctively joined them, and after a moment's hesitation, Remus and Peter did the same.

"Sirius," Bella said warningly. She still kept her voice calm, but it was clear that she was losing control.

James spoke, "Look, we don't want you insulting us, and we don't want you in our compartment.

Sirius pulled out his wand, and muttered, "Relashio." The spell only sent out sparks, but Bella stepped back out of the compartment in surprise. Sirius then proceeded to slam the door in her face.

There was silence for a moment. Then Peter asked, "Does anyone know how to do a locking charm?"

"Oh, yeah, why didn't I think of that," Sirius said, and jumped up to do one, but while he was talking James had beaten him to it.

"Now that that's over," Remus put in, "who was she, anyway?"

"My cousin Bellatrix," Sirius replied, with not a touch of bitterness in his voice, "she's impossible. My whole family is. Thanks for supporting me, though I could've handled her myself."

"Hey, what are friends for?" James said.

"Friends, really?" Sirius sounded slightly incredulous.

"Of course," everyone else said at the same time.

"To be completely honest, I've never really had many friends. As I told you before, my family is impossible. They're just...well, nasty. Think they're better than anyone else, and justify it with the fact that the Blacks are one of the oldest wizarding families. That and a lot of gold give them enough influence at the ministry to be able to get away with almost anything. It just seems like a load of rubbish to me, and my cousin Andromeda- she's the best of the lot, and she's in fifth year now- came back from Hogwarts and said that there isn't any real difference between us and anyone else. So I've rejected that idea, but, since they say that anyone who isn't sufficiently pure-blooded or doesn't share those views is 'not fit to associate with them,' that doesn't really leave me with any friends." As he spoke, Lily couldn't help noticing the bitter tone with which he talked of his family, or the way he acted as if he was not one of them.

Lily spoke up, "I'm sorry. I don't have those kinds of problems, but I've never quite fit in either. I was just in some way different from most of the other kids at home. Of course, having magic only compounded the problem. A lot of kids were kind of scared of me, since I have a pretty bad temper even when I'm not inadvertently blowing things up. And my older sister started spreading it around that I'm a freak. We haven't gotten along well for a few years."

Peter was next to speak. "I was never well liked. My family lives in a fairly small community. There isn't really anyone else my age, and I've always been one of the rather unpopular kids. It doesn't help that I can never seem to meet my parent's expectations- I've been told that I'm a disappointment to the family."

"I can't really explain right now," Remus said, "but the way things worked out no one ever wanted to be friends with me either."

"Well," James added, "my family is great, but we live way out away from anyone else, and I've just never had much contact with other kids. So it looks like we're all outcasts in one way or another."

"That's true," Sirius admitted, "we are all outcasts."

"Maybe we could call ourselves 'the outcasts'," Peter suggested.

"Yeah," James took up the idea, "or 'the misfits'."

"No, I don't want something like that. I do want a group name, but we need a more bold title, not something saying that we don't do we struggle socially," Sirius said. "I've got a better name. We should be..."

"Yes? Are you planning on telling us this great idea of yours?" James asked.

" We shall be The Marauders," Sirius finished with a flourish.

The four boys instantly agreed to be the marauders.

"What about you, Lily?" Remus asked.

Lily smiled, "You guys can have the name. I'd be happy to be part of the group, but I don't think I want to be known as a marauder."

"Okay," Sirius conceded, "you can be an honorary marauder."

"Sounds good to me," Lily agreed.

They were interrupted by yet another knock at the door.

Peter groaned, "Not again!"

"Go awa-" Sirius started to yell, but was cut off.

A girl's voice, sounding mildly angry, came from the other side of the door, "James Harold Potter, unlock that door this instant!"

James gulped, "That's my sister. We'd better let her in." Pointing his wand at the door, he muttered, "Alohamora." The door clicked open.

Surprisingly, the girl that walked in did not look mad at all. She smiled and said, "Hello, all."

James smirked at her, "Couldn't handle a simple locking charm?"

"Knowing you, I can never tell if a simple locking charm is all you've used. And I've gotten tired of tripping all sorts of jinxes every single time I walk through a doorway," she replied.

Lily hesitantly spoke up, "You seemed angry before you came in, but now you don't."

The older girl responded with a kind smile and a laughing explanation, "Oh, that was just a ruse. If my dear little brother thinks I'm mad, he doesn't dare try anything on me. And you needn't be frightened of me, though I suppose I was fairly scared myself as a 1st year. I should probably introduce myself. I'm Ariana Potter, 4th year Gryffindor.

"Lily Evans."

"Remus Lupin."

"Sirius Black."

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you all. Now, I should probably be going. You might like to know that we'll be arriving in about ten minutes, so you should probably get changed into your school robes. James, don't get into too much trouble. Lily? That is your name, right?"

Lily nodded as the other girl turned towards her, so Ariana went on, "Lily, you'd better come with me. You can change in my compartment."

Lily nodded again, put away her long-ago discarded book, collected her robes, and followed Ariana out of the compartment.

Lily had intended to rejoin the boys after she'd changed, but then an announcement was broadcast throughout the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in a few minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

_So this is it. We'll be here any minute. This is what I've been waiting for,_ Lily thought. She was more excited than ever, but she had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by nerves. "We have to leave our things?" She asked apprehensively.

"Yes, they'll get taken to your dormitory." Ariana reassured her. She seemed to know that it wasn't just that that was bothering Lily. "Don't worry."

"What's going to happen now?"

"Oh, the first years get taken across the lake, while the rest of the students take a more direct route to the school. Then you'll be sorted into your houses, and you'll go to join the rest of the students in your house for the welcoming feast."

"Okay, that doesn't sound too bad. But how are we sorted, and what are these houses I keep hearing about?"

"Being such a large school, and having such a ... diverse group of students, people are divided into sections. Your house is kind of like your family at school. There are four houses, for the four founders who created Hogwarts. Students are picked for how much they show of certain qualities that the founders favored in their pupils. Since they wouldn't always be able to handpick their students, they created the sorting process that is still used now. I don't want to give it all away, but I will tell you that the sorting is easy and painless. Don't go telling that to James though, I've ... hyped it up a bit, shall we say." Ariana finished her explanation with a mischievous smile.

Though still a bit unsure, Lily was much heartened. "Great, thanks. I won't say a thing," she said. Her smile faded a bit, "This is all so new to me. I'll probably be hopeless."

"Oh, you'll be fine. There are plenty of people who come from non-magical backgrounds, and they do just fine, better that plenty of those who come from old wizarding families, though there are always some gits who maintain that purity of blood is what really matters. Rubbish, really. Well, it looks like we're here. This is where I'll have to leave you for now, but I'll see you at the feast."

As the two girls joined the mass of the students getting off the train, Ariana pointed out where the first years were supposed to go, then left to go with the older students. Lily struggled to make her way through the crowd.

A loud voice boomed out, "Firs' years this way! Firs' years!" A lamp was held aloft over the heads of the students, illuminating the form of a giant of a man who stood at the edge of the platform in the gathering dusk.

"I believe that's Hagrid, the gamekeeper. I don't think he could be mistaken for anyone else, given his size," Lily heard a boy behind her say with a small laugh.

"How did you know that?" She asked incredulously. "Does everyone here know more than me?"

"I have two sisters and a brother already here, and they've been telling me about school life, but I assure you, no one has much of a head start." The boy responded.

They were now walking down a narrow winding path. The girl in front of Lily slipped and fell as a boy pushed past them with a snarl. Lily gave the girl a hand up, and nearly fell down the steep path herself. Then they turned out of the thick trees, and the path abruptly opened out onto the shores of a inky black lake.

"No more'n four t' a boat!" Hagrid called out, and only then did Lily notice the small fleet of boats at the water's edge that the first students were already beginning to climb into. Unable to find her friends from the train in a quick glance around, she joined the boy who had been behind her, who identified himself as Edgar Bones, in a boat, along with a girl, Nalini Deva, who looked like she was probably Indian in heritage, and a girl named Diana Ledonne.

"Ev'ryone in? Now, FORWARD!" Hagrid called out to the occupants of the cluster of little boats.

"Ooooh!" Someone at the head of the fleet squealed, and they all looked up, as one, at the towers of the great castle off on the distant far side of the water.

_So that's Hogwarts_, Lily thought as the boats glided off across the vast dark lake.


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to JKR. I just own the scraps left over.

Reaching a cliff, the little boats glided under a curtain of ivy into a subterranean harbor on the far shore of the lake, and the students climbed out onto the rocky ground. They seemed to be in some sort of cave. Hagrid led them out through a passageway in the rock. Finally they emerged, high on the mountainside in front of Hogwarts castle.

Hagrid banged on the great doors, and a stern black-haired woman came out.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take the first years from here," She said. She led the line of nervous students into the entrance hall. Lily got a glimpse of torches flaming in high brackets against stone walls, and a grand marble staircase at the opposite end of the chamber, then they were stopped in a side chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. Now, before the feast, you will be sorted into houses," Professor McGonagall's tone was strictly business. She went on to explain what the houses were. Most of it was what Ariana had already told Lily, but she paid careful attention when McGonagall began talking about points.

"Personal triumphs will earn points for your house, but they will be deducted for any rule breaking. I trust that you all will be a credit to your house and to the whole of Hogwarts School. I will leave you here for now, and return in a few minutes when all is ready."

When McGonagall left, the nervous first years huddled together. Lily found herself back with the marauders.

"Do any of you know how we'll be sorted?" Peter whispered.

"I don't know, but my cousin Andromeda, she's the decent one, told me not to worry when her sisters were trying to tell me horror stories about it." Sirius hissed back.

"Are you sure? Ariana said that there was a test, and some, well, don't make it," James whispered nervously.

Lily suppressed a smirk, but she was beginning to get nervous again.

"I don't know anything, Mum wouldn't tell me," Remus breathed.

"Why are we whispering?" Lily whispered.

James laughed softly, "I dunno, it seems appropriate."

Professor McGonagall reappeared in the doorway. "All right, everyone. Follow me," she commanded. The 1st years meekly trailed her into the Great Hall in a ragged line. They filed along one edge of the chamber, stopping halfway along the wall. Lily stood between Edgar and Peter. In front of them were four long tables already filled with older students. The great high table where the teachers sat spanned the opposite wall. This chamber was lit not by torches but thousands of tapered candles floating high over the heads of those assembled. Looking up further still, she saw the ceiling, inky black and dotted with stars like the night sky.

_This is it, _Lily realized._ The sorting is about to begin. Easy and painless, _She told herself to calm her nerves, _think easy and painless._

Professor McGonagall brought out an old three-legged stool and a dirty, patched wizard's hat and set it in front of the line of first years.

Thoroughly mystified, Lily kept up her mental mantra. _Easy and painless._

Suddenly a tear in the brim of the hat opened up, and it began to sing.

Beginning to feel numb to the shock of so many strange surprises, Lily was only vaguely aware of the hat's song as it described the how the founders chose students with different qualities for their houses, the smartest for Ravenclaw, the bravest for Gryffindor, the most cunning for Slytherin, and most loyal for Hufflepuff, and how they had to put on the hat to be sorted.

When the hat finished its song, McGonagall stood up again, holding a long scroll of parchment. "When I call your name, step up to be sorted," she instructed them. "Avery, Malven!"

A boy stepped up to the stool and sat down with the hat over his whole face. "SLYTHERIN!" The hat called out, and Avery walked over to the applauding table second from the right-hand side of the hall.

"Slytherin is bad. It's where practically my whole family has been," Sirius whispered from Peter's other side. At this, Lily took a closer look at the cheering Slytherins and immediately identified Bellatrix sitting next to a younger blonde girl who she assumed was another of Sirius's estranged relations.

"Black, Sirius!" Lily gave him an encouraging as he nervously stepped out. Sirius seemed to be satisfied with his placement in Gryffindor, for it was with obvious cheer that he walked over to the far left table.

"Bones, Edgar!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Brien, Cailin!"

"RAVENCLAW"

"Deva, Nalini!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily stepped forward, nearly losing control of her nerves. She took a breath, and put on the hat.

She almost jumped in shock when a small voice spoke into her ear, seemingly reading her mind. "An interesting combination. Quite the challenge. You certainly want to prove yourself in this world, but I'd say you're no Slytherin. Definitely a fierce loyalty, but you're not Hufflepuff material either. You've got plenty of brains, certainly smart enough for a Ravenclaw, yes, you would do quite well in Ravenclaw, but I think you'd best be in GRYFFINDOR!"

The far left table cheered again, and Lily realized that the hat must have shouted that last word out loud. Smiling, she walked over to sit across from Sirius and Ariana.

She didn't pay much attention to next few people sorted, though she did notice when Cecelia Hanson, the girl who'd fallen on the path to the lake, became the next new Gryffindor. Lily gave the dark haired girl a small smile as she plopped into a seat next to her.

"Ledonne, Diana!"

Lily looked up with a shock as the girl was sorted into Gryffindor. They'd reached the L's already?

"Lupin, Remus!"

Lily waited while her friend was sorted, hoping that he would be in the same house.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As Remus made his way up to their table, Lily was sure that Sirius was the only one cheering louder than her.

The crowd of students still waiting to be sorted was rapidly thinning as one by one they stepped out of line. Meadows... Meadows... Narat... O'Malley...

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Yes!" James cheered as he followed Peter over to take his seat with the rest of them, "We all got in together!"

Lily turned back to watch the end of the ceremony. Only a handful of students were left now. Snape... Viridian... Wilkes... Yoctam. The last person was sorted. Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took her spot at the high table.

An old wizard with long silver hair and twinkling eyes stood to address them, and a respectful silence fell. Well, mostly.

"That's the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. He just got the position last year," Lily heard someone whisper across the table before they were shushed.

"Welcome students, new and old, to another year at Hogwarts. I have some important start of term notices to give, but first, let us eat!" Professor Dumbledore addressed the crowd. As he finished speaking, platters of food appeared on the tables.

Lily gasped as she reached over to serve herself some boiled potatoes from the nearest dish. "I've never seen so many different kinds of food all together."

"Yes, it is rather impressive," James agreed. "Lamb chops, anyone?"

"The welcoming feast is this grand every year," Ariana added, "and it's still a bit overwhelming, even for me. The only other times with feasts like this are Christmas dinner and the End of Term banquet, unless there's a special event, like the ball they had in my first year, though only the older students were allowed to attend that. James, you haven't taken any peas!"

"Too bad," Sirius commented, "I could get used to living on meals like these."

"Most certainly," Peter added.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to learn to do without," Remus replied in a mock-sympathetic tone.

As Ariana tried unsuccessfully to convince her brother to eat his peas ("Just because I've finally gotten away from mum doesn't mean _you_ have to go mothering me, and I don't like peas!" was the boy's protest), and the boys started playfully arguing, Lily turned her attention the other side of the table. The house ghost, looking a bit miffed, was demonstrating to a laughing group of the other first year girls just why he was called Nearly-Headless Nick, and Lily joined in the applause as he flipped his head back up. Cecelia, the girl next to her, turned to Lily and commented, "It's all kind of overwhelming, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she agreed readily, "It's almost kind of scary."

"I'd say it is kind of scary. I mean, Mum's always told me stories about her years here, of course, but I still feel like I'm really unprepared. Just being away from home is bad enough."

"True. At least you had the benefit of your mum's stories. I hadn't even heard of any of this until a month ago, if you'd believe it."

"Oh, poor you! How is it so far?"

"It's...interesting. Amazing. Odd. I don't know. It's just all so much of a shock. It's like being plunged into one of my dreams. How can you be so calm? I feel like everyone is going to take one look at me and be able to see just how scared and clueless I am. I feel like I must have a big glowing sign over my head saying _Outsider_, or something like that. Now I'm just babbling again. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Actually, as I said, we're all kind of new at this. You're far from being the only muggle-born here, and if you're ever confused, just about anyone can help you, though you should try to stay away from the Slytherins. They have a bit of a reputation."

"Yes, I think Sirius said something about that."

Cecelia glanced over at the boy. "Oh! Right, he would definitely know. _His_ family seem to care more about purity of blood than anything else," she said darkly.

"He didn't seem to mind. In fact, he's really nice. But aren't you pure-blood too?"

This question seemed to make Cecelia a bit uncomfortable. "Well, er, I guess. You could say that. I'm no from an old family though. Just because someone seems to know their way around this world doesn't mean that they're pure-blood though. There are plenty of half-bloods around, and even though if someone doesn't have any close muggle relatives, they're technically pure-blood, like me, it's not a term to go throwing around, because it's a very different thing than the old families, who can supposedly trace their heritage all the way back to Merlin, with not a single muggle the whole way."

"Oh," Lily said sheepishly, "I'd just kind of assumed..."

"It's okay, I understand."

They talked companionably for the rest of the feast. As the time stretched on, Lily grew tired and things began to blur together in her mind. Desserts appeared in much the same way as dinner had, and the headmaster made a longer speech, mostly explaining school policies (the forbidden forest is off-limits, as of this year, exploding discs are banned from school premises, etc), and she was almost asleep in her pudding when she was jolted back to alertness by a swift kick under the table.

"Oi, Lily!" Sirius said. "Supper's over. It's time to go up to the dormitories."

"Oh, thanks," She muttered, rubbing her foot as she got up and filed into line behind the other Gryffindor first years.

The first years were led up through a winding series of corridors that Lily couldn't even begin to remember if she tried, behind hidden doors and tapestries, and through what had appeared to be solid walls, until at last they came to a painting of a large woman in a fine pink dress.

"Password?" The lady in the portrait asked.

The older girl leading them responded immediately, "Drake." The whole picture swung away, revealing a large hole in the wall. One by one the line of first years stepped through it into a cozy room wood paneled room, decorated all in red and gold, and furnished with comfortable armchairs. Across the room, two staircases started from either side of an ornate fireplace. The girls were directed up one of them, and the boys up another.

Walking up the stairs from the common room, Lily was surprised to find that there were actually two 1st year girl's dormitories. She stopped, not sure which one to go into.

"What's wrong?" A girl named Marlene Meadows asked from behind her.

"There're two rooms," Lily said.

"Well, let's check inside, see if there's anything to suggest where we should be," Another girl, Fiona O'Malley, suggested.

The other 1st years, five in all, followed Lily into the first room. She looked around at the girls who would be her companions at Hogwarts and, hopefully, her friends. Fiona was an Irish girl with sandy blonde hair and prominent freckles. The others all had dark hair. Marlene and Dorcas Meadows were identical twins. Diana Ledonne was fairly small and extremely shy. Cecelia, her friend from dinner, had bright blue eyes and a mischievous smile.

It was Dorcas who noticed their trunks, one beside each of the three four-poster beds. "Looks like where we are is determined by the placement of our trunks."

Cecelia read off the names, "Marlene Meadows... Dorcas Meadows... Diana Ledonne... and the rest of us must be in the other room."

Marlene whispered something to her sister, and Dorcas nodded. Marlene said, "I'd actually prefer to be in the other room. Would anyone be willing to switch with me?"

"I will," Fiona volunteered. "Can you help me move the trunks? I doubt I can do it on my own."

Everyone agreed, and they quickly finished the task.

"Oof," Lily muttered. "There's got to be a better way to do this."

"I'm sure there is," Fiona agreed, "But what are the chances that they teach us anytime soon?"

"Oh, don't be so cynical," Cecelia said.

"Sorry," Fiona replied. "I can't help it."

"I'm tired," Diana spoke up. "Can we please go to bed now?"

"That's the best idea I've heard all night," Dorcas agreed.

Lily, Cecelia, and Marlene quickly left for their own dormitory to change and crawl into bed. Marlene was out right away, but Lily and Cecelia stayed up and talked for a few more minutes. Finally, Lily yawned theatrically and declared in her most overwrought voice, "I am sorry, fair lady, but I must now abandon this scintillating conversation in favor of a brief repose."

"And I thought I was the actress," Cecelia laughed.

Lily looked up, "You're an actress?"

"Oh, yes, I've always enjoyed drama. Since I was little, I've wanted to be an actress or a playwright."

"That sounds fun."

"I like it. I've been in a load of classes. We do all sorts of things. Once, we did an exercise in miming and we weren't doing it properly, so the instructor just cast a silencing charm over the lot of us, and then one boy wouldn't behave, so the teacher threatened to leave the spell on him. Once I had a part where I got to float, and sometimes we get to play at dueling. And the final performances are the best."

"It's odd," Lily mused, "how much even such a simple thing like acting changes between muggle and magical society."

"That's true. I'd never really thought about it, having taken magic for granted, but you're right," Cecelia agreed.

"Well, I really did mean it about needing to go to sleep. Goodnight," said Lily.

"Goodnight," Cecelia replied.

Turning away from her friend, Lily pulled shut the hangings on her bed, and immediately dropped into a deep sleep.


End file.
